The politicians returned to Canberra last Monday. The House is now sitting. It only took a hint about a Federal Election later in the year for our house phone to start ringing.
‘Could I speak to Catherine’, not ‘could I speak to Mrs So and So’, just Catherine.
Up goes my back – call me old fashioned but it doesn’t matter who you are, I tell (or let you know in one way or another) when you can approach me informally.
She introduced herself as a volunteer from our local member’s office all nice and gooey like asking if I’m fine, am I happy with things at the moment, anything I need a hand with. No contact with any of his constituents in the past years and then she asks do I have email, would we like kept up to date with progress, oh and would I like to tell her who I voted for in the last election!
Yes -no – and no! It’s nobodies business but my own, I don’t tell anyone else, not even The Golfer, who I voted for!
With that it was, thank you and the line went dead.
~ ~ ~
Two nights later The Golfer gets someone asking if he’d like to help with a survey. About what? he asks. ‘The upcoming election’. No indication of where this person was ringing from at all. Then when The Golfer mentioned ‘how did you get this number? We are on the do not call register’ he put the phone down.
~ ~ ~
Looks like the wheels are starting to turn (churn?)
Still Waters 
Yes. You don’t hear nor hide nor hair from them until it’s election time. And then they promise the world and deliver nothing and go back to silence u til the nest time.
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And I answered the phone the other afternoon and it was Bill Shorten albeit a recorded message! Haven’t had the ‘locals’ ringing yet…yet! It’s a bit rude to ask you who you voted for!!! We’ve got our local govt elections here on March 19, so the chair, umbrella and A frame posters are out on the corners near the shops, reminding us who is standing in our council ward.
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Churn is the appropriate word; as a concrete mixer full of muck.
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I never hear anything from any of them any time at all. Just the mailbox leaflets telling us how good they are, vote for me, how they’re in touch with their community, vote for me, how they will improve this or that, vote for me. I chuck the whole lot in the bin after I’ve had a good laugh at them.
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In our part of the world, we vote in free elections. There is no guarantee that those we elect are the best people. The campaigning can be a total frustration as well. Good luck.
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SIGH … I hate the survey calls and can’t stand the canned ones. WE are on the don’t call list too, but seems they get around it somehow.
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I am sorry for these people having to do these cold calls but at the same time have little patience these days, I hang up as soon as I can with a firm and quick ‘sorry not interested’.
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Sadly political parties and charities are exempt from the Do Not Call Register.
And how I wish they were.
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‘Were not’. Sorry.
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Here in Scotland all the parties seem to be making a huge effort to engage people. We get phone calls, letters, junk mail and people on the doorstep.
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I’m screening all my calls. I’m on the ‘Do not call list” but apparently it does not count in politics.
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